Mangaluru: The vain attempt on the life of Udupi Deputy Commissioner and others during a recent raid brought the powerful sand mafia in the coastal region to the fore once again.
Attacks on officials during raids have been more frequent than in the past, if one goes by the reports appearing in the media. Former DC of Dakshina Kannada A B Ibrahim did admit of “not doing enough” to quell the powerful sand mafia in the region before his transfer to Bengaluru.
There are reports of strong nexus between politicos and sand mafia for a long period. This nexus understandably does not give leeway for the district administration to take stern actions, except in few cases. The latest statement by the Deputy Commissioner of Udupi Priyanka Mary Francis who escaped an attempt on her life that she will take on the goons is heartening from common citizens’ perspective.
New bees swarm around the honey bee colony, so do those involved in sand trade around “pockets” where sand is available in abundance. The prices for a truck load of sand in DK and Udupi hovers around 12,000 but touches 70,000 once it enters Kerala or when it reaches state capital of Bengaluru. This difference draws everyone into the trade to take risk and make quick money.
Rich resource looted
Sand has huge demand in construction industry and there are 12 authorised mining locations in DK alone. It is gathered that unauthorised mining takes places even in these locations, where the mafia extracts sand beyond permissible limits and transport the same in the cover of darkness. Even certain administration officials admit of mafia looting sand from Nethravathi river bank in places like Kannur and Adyar on the outskirts of Mangaluru.
Under CRZ, the District Administration(DA) has taken few measures but the political clout that sand mafia enjoys makes the DA helpless in most cases. Extensive sand mining is cited as one of the prime reasons behind rivers getting dried up during summer, also resulting in depleting ground water levels in many places across the district.
CCTV cameras capture nothing!
CCTV cameras have been installed at 72 different strategic locations in the district to keep tab on the movement of sand by the district administration. They include 10 in Bantwal town police station limits, 4 in rural police station limits, 12 in Vittal, 9 in Belthangadi and 11 in Sullia. People living in areas where rampant mining goes on allege that none bother to evaluate the CCTV footage and take action for reasons well known! There are allegations against officials denying regularisation of illegal trade licences too.
In certain cases, officials from the district administration had made serious efforts to raid and seize illegal stocks, providing the only silver lining in the dark world where sand mafia rules and thrives.
